Briton Paula Radcliffe set a world best for the half-marathon today when she clocked an unofficial 65 minutes 40 seconds in the Great North Run.
The mark was exactly a minute inside Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen's 1987 time but Radcliffe said she did not think it would be ratified because of the sloping course from Newcastle to South Shields.
As for Irish interest, the pace was too much for Sonia O'Sullivan - last year's winner - and Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu, who had dropped back by the three-mile mark and came in fourth and fifth respectively.
Radcliffe, 29, who broke her own world best for the marathon in London this year, missed last month's Paris world championships because of injury and illness.
"It doesn't make up for the world championships but it ends the season on a positive note," she said.
"I wasn't thinking of the time but I didn't think I was anywhere near the world best. I was just running as hard as I could. It was a great day for it."
Radcliffe, who has said she will run the marathon in next year's Athens Olympics although she has yet to win a global title on the track, confirmed she would take part in next month's world half-marathon championships in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Ethiopia's world 10,000 metres champion Berhane Adere finished second ahead of the 2001 Great North champion Susan Chepkemei of Kenya.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will recognises marks set on the road as world records from January 1st next year.
It lists South African Elana Meyer's 1999 mark of 66:44 as the current world best but the authoritative International Track and Field Annual lists both Kristiansen's and Meyer's marks.